


A Bona Fide Phony

by CottonCandyTeeth



Category: Undertale
Genre: Adorable Papyrus (Undertale), Angst with a Happy Ending, Babybones, Big Brother Sans (Undertale), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Good W. D. Gaster, Goopy W. D. Gaster, Happy Ending, Light Angst, No Beta, Original Character(s), Parent Sans (Undertale), Pre-Canon, Pre-Undertale, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Self-Indulgent, Snowdin (Undertale), Teenage Sans (Undertale), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, We Die Like Men, Young Papyrus (Undertale), Young Sans (Undertale), Younger Brother Papyrus (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:54:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21525538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CottonCandyTeeth/pseuds/CottonCandyTeeth
Summary: The story where Papyrus makes a friend that at first Sans believes to be an imaginary friend, until he learns that the friend is anything but.{{EDITING AND REWRITING}}
Relationships: Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), W. D. Gaster & Papyrus & Sans, W. D. Gaster & Sans
Comments: 23
Kudos: 53





	1. Everything’s Fine

**Author's Note:**

> This is purely self indulgent. Like no joke, I just want to write stories about the skeleton gang all the time. I hope you guys like this! Haven’t decided how I want to end this, so the tags might change. ;)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Papyrus have a normal life. Nothing is wrong. Definitely nothing wrong at all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Went back and made some minor fixes I noticed while reading! So if you already read the chapter you didn’t;t miss too much!

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It was a usual night in the cozy town of Snowdin for the skeleton brothers, with Sans relaxing on their new green couch he had found in Waterfall while half-ass watching tv while his younger brother Papyrus lay on the ground in front of him. Papyrus was busy drawing pictures for Sans, swinging his feet to an unheard tune and making the occasional ‘nyeh’ of satisfaction when something he did looked especially good. 

Sans rested his skull in his hand and leaned against the couches armrest, blinking slowly as colors flashed on the screen. He could barely even process what the show was actually talking about at that point. All he knew was that it was talking about some new flowers that had started popping up in waterfall that could mimic something. The longer he listened to the narrator's droning, the heavier his skull felt in his palm. San’s sockets were barely hanging open when Papyrus suddenly shot up from his spot on the ground with lighting speed. He held his stack of drawings up high and gave a loud ‘nyeh” before turning sharply towards Sans.

“NYEH HEH HEH! SANS! I FINISHED ALL MY DRAWINGS!” Papyrus started off confidently before shrinking back down into himself when he noticed how sleepy his older brother looked. He shuffled his feet as he silently debated in his mind. “...DO YOU... WANNA SEE THEM NOW?” Papyrus looked at his brother hopefully as he held the drawings out towards Sans. Even though he was  _ dead _ tired (heh), the older skeleton couldn’t say no to a face like that. He could rarely say no to Papyrus in general. Sans shook his head and slowly sat up, cracking his weary bones before giving the spot on the couch beside him a gentle pat.

“‘course i do, bro. ya don’t even have to ask. how could i ever miss out on lookin’ at one’a yer pictures.” Sans answered easily as his permanent grin softened with fondness. Papyrus’s face broke out in a bright, beaming smile followed immediately by him climbing his little body onto the couch and into San’s lap. Papyrus handed over the stack to Sans for him to hold, taking one picture into his own hands and clearing his throat. Sans gave a slight grunt when a knee poked into him as Papyrus settled, resting his arms loosely around his little brother. He examined the first picture that Papyrus held up, only being able to make out a circle with a face, stick arms and random colors of blue and green around it.

“wow, bro. nice...uh, snow..man?..” Sans spoke slowly as he studied the drawing critically.

“IT’S NOT A SNOWMAN, WEIRDO! IT’S YOU! CAN’T YOU TELL? LOOK, THAT’S YOUR HOODIE. AND THAT’S THE COUCH!!I EVEN USED THE SAME COLOR GREEN.” Papyrus corrected with a whine. Sans took a moment to study the picture for a second longer before dramatically hitting his forehead and leaning back into the couch cushions with an audible  _ whump! _

“ooh, ‘course it is! wow, bro. it looks jus’ like me! are ya sure you didn’t take a picture of me? i mean, this is spot on!” Sans gave Papyrus a wink before holding the picture a bit higher. “mhm, oh yeah. definitely fridge material.” As if anything Papyrus made wasn’t. The whole fridge was covered in Papyrus’s artwork at that point, and Sans couldn’t remember what color the thing actually was, now that he was thinking about it.

Papyrus broke out into an eager smile that practically lit up the whole room at the approval, quickly gathering the rest of the pictures and beginning his very prestigious art show. He moved from Sans’s lap and stood on the couch, Sans shifting so he was facing his little brother more and resting his skull back into his hand. The two continued the charade for each picture Papyrus showed off. Sans would give an elaborate reaction and treated all of the pictures like they were worth a million gold, and Papyrus would just eat it up and puff his chest out proudly. The little skeleton explained each picture with such a passion, setting them all to the side carefully to be put up..somewhere. Sans would have to figure out where to put them all later. For the moment though, he let himself focus on his brother completely. As they got farther into the stack, Sans’s eyelights caught sight of the clock on the wall as it read the time.

“okay, babybones. it’s time for dinner.” Papyrus stopped what he was saying and whined slightly, crossing his arms.

“NO FAIR. I JUST STARTED!” Papyrus tried to argue. But there was no arguing with Sans at that point. He rarely let the two be too late for dinner. It threw off the whole night routine if he did, after all. The older brother stood from the couch and glanced at the pouting skeleton and let out a sigh. He looked at the stacks of pictures and suddenly had a brilliant idea.

“say..if we go an’ eat now, we can put yer pictures up even faster on the fridge. deal?”

Sans let out a hard ribcage laugh as Papyrus immediately took off towards the kitchen. Sans shook his head and gathered the pictures that Papyrus had completely forgotten and made his way towards the kitchen. As he did he passed by the mirror, giving it a casual glance. He stopped dead in his tracks as his eye socket flared to blue and yellow, the pictures falling from his grip as he turned sharply to look behind him. His SOUL beat sporadically in his ribs as he heaved, his eyelights darting around to examine the room. All he could see was the usual living room, with the couch as a new detail. 

“SAANS! C’MON! WE HAVE TO EAT SO WE CAN PUT THE PICTURES UP!” Sans was broken from his trance when he heard Papyrus from the kitchen’s door frame, his little hands holding the frame as his sockets became worried. “SANS? WHAT’S WRONG?” He asked as he looked at all the pictures that littered the floor.

“... ‘s nothin’ paps. let’s eat, yeah? don’t want to keep  _ loafing _ around.” Sans said shakily as he willed himself to calm down and have his hands stop shaking. Papyrus make a scoffing sound as Sans reached the door frame after gathering the pictures back into (his version of) a neat stack.

“THAT WAS TERRIBLE!”

“yer still smilin’.”

“I KNOW AND I HATE IT!”

Sans gave his brother’s head a pat before he ran back to the kitchen table, leaving Sans to stand in the doorway and look back at the mirror suspiciously. Eventually he just gave a shrug and followed Papyrus to the table, letting his mind relax.

He wasn’t sure why he had seen it, but he swore he had seen a figure standing behind him in the mirror.

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Later into the night Papyrus was dressed in his dinosaur themed pajamas and was curled up on his mattress, with Sans reading him his usual bedtime story. Papyrus sat in the crook of San’s arm and leaned against his ribs, studying the pictures closely as he took comfort in the hum of his brother’s SOUL. He was still learning to read, so once in a while Sans would ask him to try and read some of the words. Papyrus’s sockets began to become heavier the farther in the book they read, until eventually his head slipped forward mid sentence. Of course big brother Sans was there and already prepared to catch his brother and tuck the baby bones into bed. He pecked his teeth against Papyrus’s head as he cooed gently. 

“‘nite bro. sleep tite.” He whispered softly. He stayed a second longer to just admire his brother before pushing himself up and off the mattress. He flicked the light off and made his way to his own room, rubbing his spine as he entered. If he thought Papyrus’s room was bare, his was even worse. While Papyrus had at least a table side and toys in his room with his mattress, Sans only had his mattress. Of course it was a small price to pay if it meant Papyrus got to have cooler stuff. Sans plopped down heavily onto the bed and kicked his shoes off, lazily shrugging his jacket off and throwing it stars know s where before crashing into his pillow. The next thing he knew, he was sound asleep in snoozeville.

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_ It was bright. Of course not sun bright, because Sans had never seen the sun, but its own brightness. It took a few minutes before Sans realized where he was. Hotland? Why was he in Hotland? He felt something stirring in his arms and looked down to find he had a baby in them. It was a tiny skeleton that was crying, reaching its pitiful hands out towards something Sans couldn’t see. He felt his legs move towards the unseen source, and he could feel himself shout. Why was he shouting? His running took longer than what he was used to, and from further examination he found that his legs were smaller. His whole body was. It was like he was nine again!  _

_ Despite this Sans continued running with the baby skeleton in his arms, a large structure fading into his view. The Core? Sans wasn’t sure why he was at The Core, but he felt like he was being timed. Like there was something he needed to do before it was too late. Sans ran over the metal bridge that lengthened over the lava below, running closer and closer towards The Core. At the very base was a figure furiously pressing buttons and pulling switches, and at the sight of them Sans could feel himself yell louder. The figure turned sharply, and all Sans could see was static where the face should be. The figure shot a hand out towards Sans, and the next thing he felt was his feet leaving the ground. He gripped the tiny skeleton protectively as he was tossed off the bridge and back onto the safety of land. Sans landed with a gasp, feeling the wind knocked out of his SOUL. The figure looked around The Core one last time before it began to run full speed towards Sans and the baby. Sans sat up and set the baby skeleton to the side and ran to the edge where land and bridge met, holding a hand out. _

_ “hurry, (@% ! you can make it! you can make it!” Sans felt himself scream. The figure was getting so close as the bridge began to creak and groan. It’s hand was reaching back towards Sans, yelling static at him as the bridge behind him began to collapse. The figure suddenly had the bridge ripped from underneath it, its hand still reaching out as it plummeted towards the lava. Sans felt himself scream out bloody murder as he reached helplessly, leaning over the edge as the bridge gave completely. He failed. Hefailedhefailedhefailed- _

_ - _

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Sans shot up in bed with a shout, sweat coating his bones as his breaths heaved his ribs up and down. He held his shirt in a fist over his SOUL while the free hand held his body up. His eyelights was glowing for a second time that night, his room illuminated from the colors. It took what felt like hours until Sans could let the hand on his shirt fall to the bedsheets, and took even longer until his eyelights ceased its glowing and plunged his room into darkness. Sans threw the covers off of his body and stood from the mattress, rubbing his face and groaning. He could barely remember what he had dreamed about, but whatever it was..it left him feeling empty. As Sans paced the room in thought he had the sudden urge to check on his brother. Creeping out of his room he tiptoed silently to Papyrus’s door, twisting the doorknob and peeking just enough to see. Papyrus had sprawled out over his bed and had knocked the cover off completely, but was fine.  _ He’s completely fine _ , Sans thought with a shaky grin. Of course he was fine. Why wouldn’t his brother be okay? He reshut the door completely and let a groan out into his hands. 

“okay, big guy. that’s the last time we are drinking ketchup before bed.” Sans spoke quietly to himself as he retreated back to his room, closing his door behind him. He forced himself back into bad and after contemplating his dream a bit more, Sans finally let himself drift back to sleep for the rest of the night.

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Unbeknownst to Sans though, back in Papyrus’s room, a tall, black goopy mass slithered from underneath the mattress, growing higher and higher until it was able to hover over Papyrus. It seemed to stare at the little skeleton for a solid moment before reaching melting hands down towards the cove that had fallen. It lifted the cover and gently draped it back over Papyrus all while his goop dripped onto the sheets and stained the area. It finished placing the cover over Papyrus and stayed staring for even longer, until what functioned as the “sun” began to light up the underground. The brighter the room came, the more the figure faded, until nothing but the stains on its sheets and a newly discolored carpet were left in its wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans you should know creepy figures in the mirror never ends well! That’s like, spooky suit 101.


	2. Introductions are Overrated!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruh I am SO sorry this chapter took me so long to finish. College & life just got in my way, then I lost motivation, and it was a huge mess. But I pushed through! I’m not the happiest with this chapter so sorry if it’s subpar. Hope you enjoy regardless! Also, if you had to choose, would you want the main POV to be from Sans, Papyrus. Or a little bit or both? /:O
> 
> EDIT: after this chapter I will be completely rewriting, so after this update if you’ve already read this far I would recommend staying tuned. ;) I also added a little section at the end of this chapter that is going to really help with future parts of the story later down the road! Nothing too major, but just gave me a chance to introduce a character sooner than later.

Contrary to belief Papyrus did not hate school.

Nay, one could say he loved school. What wasn’t there to love about it? He got to color in what coloring pages the teacher had found that day and flex his amazing puzzle skills! And as Sans always said, he was great at everything he did! Despite this reminder from his brother over how fantastically amazing he was, Papyrus couldn’t help but notice his lacking in a certain department. 

Papyrus had no friends. Zero. None. He couldn’t be completely surprised, of course. The brothers had only just moved into their new home a few weeks earlier, after all! Still. He hadn’t expected friend making to be so hard.

As he sat in the classroom’s designated eating area alone, he could only look around the classroom boredly. It was a brightly colored room (dandelion yellow, as they had learned yesterday), with aged multicolored foam mats that had gradually been collected over time by the school. When he was really bored he would think about their life story. It had to be exciting if they ended up down in the Underground! Maybe they were owned by a really cool cool human hero. Like a knight, or maybe someone with powers (different from monster powers, of course). Sometimes Papyrus wasn’t sure they were supposed to be so mismatched in color, since some of the pieces were obviously forced to fit together. They were barely held in place with what tape the teachers had covered them with. The walls of the room were adorned with plentiful posters all around teaching the monster children lessons. ‘Sharing is caring!’ ‘1+1=2!’ They even had one about making friends. 

Papyrus tried to study that one the most.

The young skeleton let his sockets fall to his classmates, who were all huddled close together in plushy bean bags that had been patched up with whatever fabric was available. They were laughing at one snail monster child who had gotten cinnabun icing on his shell, and was struggling to reach it to get it off. It was all in good fun of course, since they eventually began to help wipe it off and the snail monster joined in on the laughter. Papyrus found himself smiling along at the scene.

Papyrus’s lunch had long become cold in his lonely corner. With a dramatic sigh he pushed it away carefully and brought his knees to his chest. Usually by that point he would just close his eye sockets and wait for lunch time to be over, but he felt a presence take their place in front of him. Looking up, his eye sockets were met with two of his classmates. One was a young bear-deer hybrid with two sets of eyes all trained on Papyrus, while the one leading the tiny group was a monster that looked like a worm-glow stick creature. She smiled brightly and gestured at Papyrus with her head (?).

“Hey there. You’re the new kid, right?” She questioned cheerfully. Papyrus blinked his sockets for a second before taking a moment to look around the room, then point at himself. 

“YOU’RE...YOU’RE TALKING TO ME?” he answered back with his own question. The glow stick girl laughed, sending bubbles floating around in her body (??).

“Haha, yeah! Of course I am, silly. You’re the only new face here. We thought you’d like some company.” The two didn’t even give Papyrus a chance to answer before they sat down in front of him with their own lunches. “I’m Glorm. This here is my friend Teddy Dee.” Teddy Dee waved their hoof-claw at Papyrus and gave a smile of their own. 

“WELL THEN! IT IS REALLY GOOD TO MEET YOU! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” Papyrus practically glowed as he introduced himself. It felt like the lighting almost purposefully gave him a dramatic flair. The two monsters giggled slightly to each other as Teddy Dee leaned forward. 

“Why did you call yourself that?” Papyrus seemed taken aback for a second before giving a nervous laugh. His cheekbones flushed a tint of orange as he floundered.

“OH, UH..FORCE OF HABIT I GUESS. MY OLDER BROTHER ALWAYS CALLS ME THAT AND I JUST, GOT USED TO CALLING MYSELF IT! PRETTY COOL NICKNAME, RIGHT? MY BROTHER IS SUPER SMART TO COME UP WITH A NAME LIKE THAT.” 

The two monsters laughed even more as they ate their lunch. Papyrus rubbed his sleeve and tried to laugh along with them. Even if he didn’t get the joke that was said.

“Man, you really are funny Papyrus.” Glorm begun. “Since you’re new, we were wondering what made you and your family move here to Snowdin. Usually monsters move out!” Teddy Dee nodded in agreement and gestured towards Papyrus to let him know it was his turn to speak.

“OH! UM..WELL, IT WAS KINDA THE ROYAL GUARD’S IDEA! THIS WAY IT’S EASIER FOR MY BROTHER TO ASK FOR HELP WITH ME.” Papyrus explained easily. “THE ROYAL GUARD IS REALLY NICE, HUH? I ALWAYS LIKE WHEN DOGAMY’S DAD LETS ME RIDE ON HIS BACK. HE’S THE FASTEST MONSTER ON THE TEAM!” Papyrus’s spoke happily until he saw the faces the two monster’s were making. He immediately shrunk into himself and tried to give a smile. “SORRY..NOT EVERYONE IS LUCKY AS ME TO GET TO HANG WITH THE ROYAL GUARD. I SHOULDN’T BRAG.” He apologized quickly just as Sans had explained. Glorm just scrunched her face up more in confusion.

“Why would the Royal Guard care if you were closer? Is your mom or dad on the team or something?” Teddy Dee leaned in themself and Papyrus saw the smile on their faces falter a bit.

“OH. WELL, ITS CAUSE MY BROTHER ISN’T OLD ENOUGH TO TAKE CARE OF ME ALL BY HIMSELF. WHEN HE GOES TO WORK, THEY MAKE SURE I’M HOME SAFE AND SOUND. OH! AND THEY SOMETIMES BRING US FOOD THAT SOME OF THE TOWN PEOPLE MADE IF THEY CAN’T DO IT THEMSELVES.” Papyrus felt his explanation would answer everything, but Glorm pressed more.

“Yeah, but like...that’s what mom and dads do, not your brother.” She stated confidently. Papyrus though for a moment before leaning up with pride.

“THEN I GUESS THAT MAKES MY BROTHER A SUPER DUPER BROTHER! HE DOES EVERYTHING. THAT MEAN HE’S TECHNICALLY MY DAD AND MOM!..I THINK?”

The two monster kids glanced at each other before Glorm continued. “No. Moms and dads are the ones that make us. You have a mom and dad, don’t you? Everyone does!” Papyrus merely shrugged and grinned.

“NOPE! I GUESS THAT’S JUST A SKELETON THING! NYEH HEH.” Papyrus giggled happily. He looked at the two in front of him and felt his own joy falter at the faces they were making. He noticed how they started shifting uncomfortably, and just simply couldn’t let them leave so soon! They were his first friends he’d made! Papyrus suddenly stood from his spot and hurried to his book bag, returning with a notebook with stickers all over it. “SAY! WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE PUZZLES I’VE COME UP WITH? THEY’RE PRETTY HARD, BUT I BELIEVE YOU TWO CAN SOLVE THEM.” He sat back down and held his notebook out towards them eagerly. The monster children suddenly looked everywhere but at Papyrus, Glorm coughing while Teddy Dee glanced back at the group of kids they had been sitting with.

“Uh, lunch time is about to be over, so we're gonna go back to our spots. But hey..” Teddy Dee have Glorm a look before speaking. “After school, do us a favor and meet us behind the playground. I think there will be a really cool surprise.” Papyrus immediately perked up at this. A surprise? Wowie! It had only taken a few weeks of being in the new school and he was already getting surprised by his classmates? Papyrus just knew his luck was going to change eventually. He quickly tried to keep his face neutral as he gave the two thumbs up. 

“OF COURSE. I CAN DEFINITELY DO THAT. I WILL SEE YOU THEN.” He assured. He tried to keep his voice calm, but even with how loud he spoke his voice tried to get even louder from how excited he was. Soon enough the two monsters were giggling to each other again as they stood and walked back to their original group. At that point the teacher, who was a bright bunny lady, called the students back to their assigned seats. The whole time Papyrus was back in his spot, all he could think about was his surprise. He did his best to pay attention to his teacher and what ‘homework’ was given out, but it was just so hard! It felt like the day sped by in a blink at that point until the next thing Papyrus knew, he was outside the school with his backpack and was trudging through the snow to the back of the playground.

As he approached the spot he couldn’t see any other monsters so assumed he was just too early. He was shaking with excitement as he wasted his time with rocking on his feet. A few minutes went by and Papyrus’s feelings began to shift to a sudden realization. Those kids probably purposefully skipped forgot about their meeting.

Papyrus wasn’t going to cry. Big bones didn’t cry. These things happened! Sans said so himself, and Sans never lied. He wiped away tears dust from his eye sockets with his sleeves and took a deep breath he didn’t even need. He’d just have to ask them about it tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow! They’d had a hard lesson in class that day, he pointed out to himself. They were probably just stressed out from it. Tomorrow, though, he could show them his puzzles! And they could talk more, then start having sleepovers (his first!), and finally become best friends. He moved to start walking home when strong tentacles wrapped around his body tightly and held him in place. 

“Hurry dude! Get the marker!” The mystery voice suddenly said. Papyrus squirmed in his captor’s hold as he noticed a Snowdrake looking kid approach him with a deep black marker.

“WHAT’S GOING ON WHAT-“ his words were cut off when he felt the cold ink first touch his skull. He immediately recoiled away as the Snowdrake huffed. 

“Dude, hold him still so I can write this clearly!” He hissed to his friend.

“I’m trying! He’s all bones! I’m not trying to dust him!” The tentacle creature responded with his own bite. Another tentacle reached up and wrapped around Papyrus’s jaw, wedging itself in such a way that it hurt if Papyrus tried to move his head away from that awfully cold pen-

The Snowdrake wrote for a solid minute before capping the pen and snickering.

“Welcome to Snowdin dweeb.”

Papyrus felt the tentacles fall off of him, and he fell heavily to his knees on the snowy ground. The two monsters took off to a different direction as Papyrus panicked. He ran towards the lining of the woods, and he didn’t look back to see the two monsters laughing with each other. 

He didn’t look back and see the two monsters meet up with Teddy Dee and Glorm, laughing amongst their group at what was written on Papyrus’s face. Definitely not.

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Papyrus had kept running deeper and deeper into the woods until he stumbled upon a frozen river that could show him his reflection. He dropped down to his knees and scooted closer to the bank and rested his hands on the ice so he could get a good look of himself. As he looked down he tried to ignore his tear stains and instead focused on the bold writing all over his skull.

THE LAME PAPYRUS

FREAK

LOSER

Papyrus stopped reading any more of the nasty words and began to use the snow around him to try to scrub the ink off with an onslaught of sniffing following. Was this a welcoming prank that new kids got? Maybe it was a sign that he’d been accepted into the class? (A tiny part of him knew this wasn’t true, but if he admitted to it that would be admitting nobody liked him, which wasn’t true! Sans said so himself.) As he tried to get the ink off it just smudged around and made his skull look even worse. There was no way he could go home with his face like this! Sans would see and make a scene again (then they would have to leave and find a new school again.)

His eye sockets filled with angry tears as he had a moment of wanting to give up. Would it be so bad to walk back to town? Dogamy’s dad might be there. Or one of the bigger Guards would show up. They would see Papyrus’s head, and clean it off of his bones, and give him a ride home, and it would be great! Sadly though, he knew they would tell Sans about how they discovered him. They told Sans everything. He finally let the idea die as soon as it had been thought returning to his scrubbing and using all his might!

As he scrubbed roughly at the ink the young skeleton felt the sudden urge to look behind him. It wasn’t a scary feeling, or even one that weirder him out, but for some reason he just felt his SOUL tugging him to look back. Papyrus held a breath he didn’t even need as he slowly craned his skull to look behind him. He immediately jumped out of his bones when there was a monster right there in front of him. Well, kinda. Technically behind. It didn’t matter! He shot up to his feet and turned around completely so he could face the new monster properly.

“UM. HI THERE.” Papyrus’s voice cracked slightly as he looked the monster over. So embarrassing! He thought up drearily. The monster looked as if they could have been as tall as Mister Grillby (if not for the obvious hunching over in their posture), and they looked as if they were made completely of some weird drippy black goopy stuff. The only parts that weren’t all drippy were the monster’s hands and their head. Their head was as white as Papyrus with dark empty sockets that watched Papyrus closely. The left socket had a deep crack that spread all the way up to their scalp, and the right socket adorned a similar crack that spread to the monster’s mouth. Despite its odd and almost uncomfortable appearance the monster was smiling happily. It took a step (did they have feet?) towards Papyrus, causing the boy to take a step back. It was an unsteady landing as he felt his boot slide slightly over the ice.

“H-HEY! YOU CAN’T JUST COME UP BEHIND SOMEONE AND SCARE THEM LIKE THAT! IT ISN’T VERY NICE!” Papyrus scolded quickly. He wasn’t expecting to hear the monster speak back, though. He was assuming that was what was happening anyway. He couldn’t understand a lick of it! The monster’s voice sounded layered and wobbly despite coming directly from its mouth. It reached a hand outward towards Papyrus and moved closer towards him, their steps more confident. Papyrus panicked and tried to back up more before hearing the splintering of ice beneath him. He looked down just in time to see the ice crack and break underneath him when hands wrapped around his arms and tugged him back to safety. He felt himself hit something both soft and firm at the same time, feeling much warmer than the weather around them. The savior in questioned held him protectively, and took a few steps extra away from the river’s bank.

Papyrus looked back at the now cracked river and watched the water rush dangerously below him. If he hadn’t been grabbed, there was no telling where his dust would end up underneath. He looked back towards the monster holding him tightly, seeing their face scrunch up in worry. 

“THANK YOU STRANGER! I..I GUESS THAT WAS KINDA MY FAULT..” Papyrus looked back down at his feet, his cheekbones flushed in embarrassment. He felt a warm hand graze his skull gently, and he instinctively reached up and grabbed it. As he did, he got a good look, realizing the hand had a big gaping hole in the middle of the palm. Papyrus shifted his grip slightly before looking back up at the monster. 

“PLEASE! IT’S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT! JUST, UH, FRIEND STUFF! YES, THAT’S IT! I HAVE A LOT OF THEM YOU KNOW.” He began. “I’M JUST HAVING TROUBLE GETTING IT OFF ON MY OWN. REALLY!” 

The monster tried to speak again but paused when it realized Papyrus didn’t understand. It’s face fell for a moment before brightening back up. They let go of Papyrus and gently drifted a bit back so they could bring themselves down closer to the snow. The monster reached a finger out and began to spell out words as it spoke. Papyrus debated a moment before finally deciding they were trustworthy enough to get closer to. They did just save him after all! He cautiously moved closer to the monster’s side and leaned on the slightly so he could read over their figure (and feel their warmth again). Though he was still mostly learning how to read, the monster seemed to keep his writing short and to the point. Perfect for Papyrus!

Me help.

“.ME..HELP? HELP WITH WHAT?” Papyrus questioned quickly. The monster looked over at the young one and moved their finger from the snow to point at their head, then at Papyrus. They then swirled it around to fit the young monster’s skeleton in the imaginary circle, causing Papyrus to click the answer together.

“OH. YOU WANT TO HELP WITH THIS? I MEAN. I GUESS I CAN’T SAY NO TO SOMEONE WHO SAVED ME!” Plus he really really needed to get the ink off before Sans or the Royal Guard saw it. Papyrus sat down in the snow in front of the figure and rubbed his arm nervously. “UM. CAN I GET YOUR NAME FIRST? IT FEELS KINDA WEIRD NOT KNOWING WHO YOU ARE. MY BROTHER SAYS YOU CAN’T TRUST STRANGERS.” He added quickly. 

The monster seemed to find this request hard, since they held one hand tightly around their chest (goop?) for a long while. Papyrus thought the monster was going to ignore his request until they started writing in the snow again.

Gaster.

Papyrus instantly seemed to open up more and sat up straight. 

“OKAY, MISTER GASTER. IT IS VERY NICE TO MEET YOU. NOW WE AREN’T STRANGERS ANYMORE!” Papyrus smiled brightly as he began to scrub at the ink again. He felt warm hands join in soon after, and for a while the two just sat there working together. Papyrus was still very aware how warm Gaster’s whole person was, and at one point he felt his own hands flop to his lap. His eye sockets felt incredibly heavy, and he was sure he was getting tired. No! The Great Papyrus couldn’t fall asleep! He’d end up being late getting home, and he didn't want ‘the talk’ from Sans again about being out in the underground alone. Sans was no fun when he was being responsible! 

Still, Papyrus was failing his battle fast. Gaster’s hands were so gentle...so caring. They reminded him of Sans’s hands when he hurt himself. They were working diligently, but they never thrashed Papyrus’s head too fast or too hard. He could also feel the thrumming of Gaster’s SOUL, though odd. While it sounded distant and messy, unlike any SOUL he’d ever felt, it was.. familiar. He wasn’t;t sure how to describe it, but it felt like the SOUL of someone he knew already. He felt completely safe, which mixed with the warmth he felt and caused his eyesockets to droop even more. 

As quickly as the thoughts came Papyrus was shaken from his sleepy thoughts by Gaster’s hands on his shoulders. Papyrus’s cheekbones flushed orange once again as he groaned out into his gloved hands.

“DID I FALL ASLEEP? UGH! I’M SORRY MISTER. THAT’S SO EMBARRASSING! I PROMISE I DON’T SLEEP IN FRONT OF COMPANY LIKE THAT! IS THE INK ALL GONE?” Papyrus was obviously trying to change the attention from his moment, and Gaster seemed to be merciful by playing along. He gave Papyrus a thumbs up while giving the top of his skull a pat. Papyrus grinned more and stood, dusting off his clothes. 

“GREAT! I THINK IF I RUN I CAN MAKE IT TO TOWN ON TIME BEFORE THE ROYAL GUARD NOTICE I'M GONE.” Papyrus began before beaming. “THANK YOU AGAIN MISTER GASTER! YOU’RE THE BEST.” Papyrus praised. ‘THIS MEANS WE’RE FRIENDS RIGHT? I THINK IT DOES. ONLY SOMEONE AS GREAT AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN BE SO KIND! AND I SAY KINDNESS IS THE BEST THING EVER!” Gaster’s smile seemed to widen at the young skeleton’s energy. He gave a nod and another thumbs up to show his agreement. This of course sent Papyrus over the moon. He waved his hand vigorously as he ran, managing to do it backwards a bit before turning his back on his new friend.

Papyrus really did like the sound of that.

As the skeleton child ran back towards home and further into the humble town of Snowdin, Gaster stood impossibly still as he watched the boy fade from view. For a long moment he stayed in his spot and stared down at his hands. Despite having no eyelights his face showed an immensely troubled mind. He seemed to be contemplating something important. He didn’t even realize it himself that he had already faded out of existence once again, leaving the area monster less and bare.

No one would have even remembered seeing two monster’s by the river anyway.

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As Papyrus made it back to town he was out of breatj, more from the sheer panic of making it back to town before anyone noticed him gone than needing air. He began to trudge back towards home, not even bothering to hurry as he knew someone was going to come soon.

Almost on cue he felt the ground rumble as a large monster dog came barreling towards Papyrus, skidding to a halt beside him and sending snow cascading into the air like a snow storm. His fur was as white as the snow with streaks of black and grey throughout, his head having a similar upward floor as Dogmany. Papyrus beamed, holding his arms up immediately. 

“MISTER DOGWARD!” He cheered. Doggward, the monster in question, let a long tongue roll from his mouth as he kneeled down and lifted the tiny monster into his paws and panted happily

“Skeleton puppy! I was looking all over for you!” He whined before setting Papyrus atop his shoulder. He began to walk towards Papyrus’s home, as the skeleton in question let one hand hold Dogward’s head.

“SORRY SIR. HOW’S DOGAMY DOING?”

“Oh, what most pups do in Guard Training. A few more years and he’ll be joining the pack here n Snowdin!” He barked out. “But a pause on me, where were you pup? Couldn’t smell you right. You still smell...wrong.” Dogward huffed. Papyrus snickered slightly, giving him a scratch in just the right spot behind his head. 

“SORRY SIR. I WAS..I WAS PLAYING WITH A NEW FRIEND! HIS NAME’S GASTER.” At the sound of Gaster’s name Dogward’s ear twitched as he went silent for a moment. Papyrus started to get worried until he let his tongue fall out again, panting happily.

“Nope! Never heard of him. But if it was a friend...I’ll keep your running off a little secret between us this time. Just let me or the others know when you plan on meetin’ with your friend, okay pup?” Papyrus just kicked his legs excitedly, reading down and letting Dogward wrap his large pinkie around Papyrus’s much smaller one.

“DEAL! NOW UH…CAN WE DO THE ZOOMIES TODAY?” Papyrus asked slowly. Dogward let out a hearty laugh as he nodded, carefully helping Papyrus move to his back and fell down to all four paws. Papyrus grabbed onto some of Dogward’s fur, pretending his armor was a saddle.

“Can’t promise these old bones’ll be any good, but...hold on tight skeleton pup!” 

Papyrus shrieked out in delight as he felt Dogward shoot forward, the wind whipping past his skull as he grinned impossibly wide. He let the thoughts of the school day flow with the strength of the wind and instead be replaced with thoughts of his new friend Gaster.

It wasn’t such a bad day after all.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day he’s gonna be popular, I’m sure of it! Maybe. Possibly.


	3. The Day of A Skeleton Named Sans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven’t noticed by now, this chapter is completely new from the original! I hope this doesn’t confuse you all too much! I went back and reread what I had so far and realized I was rushing the story far too quickly. Ill try not to make it drag on slow now, but I think I’m on the right track. And don’t worry! This chapter will be back in some fashion later in the future! So stay tuned.
> 
> And please! Comment on how you feel about the story so far! I would love some comments and/or criticism. I;m trying not to write the gang OOC, so if you notice that let me know! :)

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_ Sans felt his body being lifted by sturdy arms of an unknown monster, their face a static mess as garbled words were spoken to him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t tell what was being said, but somehow he knew what the monster meant. Sans felt his soul brighten at whatever the monster had said, as his arms wrapped around the monster’s neck. They were little and frail compared to the usual thickness of his bones, and he felt so much shorter than usual.  _

_ Sans couldn’t tell where the two monsters were, but it felt like somewhere he had been so many times before. The room smelled strongly of chemicals and substances he didn’t know the name of, with no other light source other than the one that sat before him. _

_ He looked up to study the towering incubator filled to the brim with a glowing blue liquid, with a tiny skeleton floating in the middle. It casted a soft glow onto his bones, and he found how it make his hands look funny before he focused on the little monster inside. _

_ “...is this him?..” Sans felt himself say. His voice was squeakier than he remembered. He reached a phalange out to trace against the tube as the mystery monster spoke again in his broken language. Sans just grinned more at what he said and let his hand press flat against the cooling glass.  _

_ “a little bro? man, s’ so cool !*#. do ya know s’ font yet?” _

_. . .  _

_ “papyrus?..hey there papyrus. ‘m sans. yer big bro.” Sans addressed the tube monster directly now as he let the hand touching the glass give the tube a pat before pointing at the monster that held him. “this is our !*!. he’s excited t’ meet ya too. so hurry up an’ grow up already!”  _

_ The monster that held Sans rumbled with laughter as he looked down at Sans. _

**_Sans_ ** _. _

_ Huh? Sans squinted his eye sockets in confusion. The monster said something! And he heard it!  _

**_Sans._ **

_ Sans had so much he wanted to ask. Where were they? Why couldn’t he see their face? Why was he so small? Who- _

_ - _

_ - _

“SANS!”

Sans jerked his body forward as his arms shot backward, his funny bone making contact with the rough concrete of a wall while his foot kicked outward. He felt his foot hit a mop bucket that in turn knocked over every broom and mop that stood in the restrained area until a mop’s strings blanket his skull with a soft  _ thump! _

His eyelights took a moment to adjust to the sudden light that attacked his senses as he looked up. At the monster in question as they started speaking again.

“Sleeping in the janitor’s closet again, I see.” They propped their tentacles on their hips as they looked down at Sans with annoyance. The skeleton in question pushed a strand of the mop away as if it were his real hair, letting his smile fall into a sly smirk.

“‘s just me or am i lookin’ at an angel?” He answered swiftly. “oh, my bad ms. O. ya look so good today i musta gotten you confused.”

“That Ms. Oca to you, Sans.” She huffed out, but it lacked any bite to it at that point. She helped Sans get to his feet and use her tentacles to dust the boy off. “What was the dream about this time, hm? Your weird obsession with ketchup?” Sans gave a huff as Ms. Oca began to walk, following close as he rubbed his elbow.

“i really can’t remember...think it was about paps..” he answered slowly. He felt a headache grow as he tried to remember the dream, ultimately giving up at trying to remember. Ms. Oca just snorted, continuing to lead Sans through the maze called the halls of Holland’s laboratory. 

He slipped his hands into his pockets and sighed, taking comfort in the silence. He was still dead tired, but that was to be expected when he had to juggle both school, a tiny job as the lab janitor, and taking care of his little bro. Still, it was worth it if it meant he didn’t have to stay living in New Home.

When the skeleton brothers were younger, the people of the capitol weren’t sure what to do with the brothers. One day everything was normal, and the next there was a little skeleton child holding an even younger brother. The two were passed around from home to home under the watchful eye of King Asgore, whose heart had gone out to them. If not for the fact that he didn’t have any free time to take care of two young monsters, he would have taken the in himself.

When he was first found, Sans hadn’t even remembered his or his brothers name. It was as if he was a blank slate, with the exception of having a possessive protectiveness over his brother. The two looked healthy enough, so it just added to the mystery of where they had come from. Eventually Sans had his personality blossom, and some memories come back to him. Even his little brother, who they eventually learned to be called Papyrus, began to show his rambunctious personality.

The two grew bouncing from monster family to monster family, Sans slowly taking more control over their lives as he grew older and bigger. The breaking point had been after a nasty incident that happened at the younger brother’s school, which led to Sans wanting to leave the capitol completely. At first the king fought against this, but he couldn’t argue much when Sans declared he’d already spent the money he had saved up for a little home in the town of Snowdin. 

To compromise, the King allowed Sans and Papyrus to move to Snowdin only if the residential Royal Guards and the townsfolk were allowed to help the brothers when they needed it. Sans had agreed completely, only caring about leaving for a fresh new start. So the brothers came to stay in Snowdin, with Papyrus going to the local school while Sans went from their to his school in Waterfall, to his job in the lab, then back to Snowdin.

Though impractical, it was impossible to get Sans to not want a job. There was only so much compromising a teen was willing to do before he felt his person be threatened.

“Here you are Sans. Your check for the day.”

Sans blinked back to reality at Ms. Oca holding out a white envelope, his hands carefully taking it into his own and slipping it into hisss jacket’s pocket. 

“Do me a favor, sweetie. Don’t overwork yourself. Let the adults help from time to time.” Ms. Oca spoke softer than usual, giving Sans The Look that all adults gave him. 

He hated their looks. He was fifteen! He was practically an adult. He didn’t  _ need  _ help. He had raised his brother just fine so far. 

Instead of saying that out loud Sans just gave Ms. Oca his signature smile, before giving her a bow. 

“‘course ms. o. I’ll  _ tentaclly  _ be sure to ask the adults if I need an extra hand or two. Or  _ eight. _ ” Ms. Oca just snorted, waving Sans off with a laugh as she looked away. 

“Oh, you. Go home before I dock your pay.” She teased before sitting up straighter. “Oh! Please be careful on your way back. There’s rumors going around of a frightening monster that’s been spotted all over the Underground. They say he’s just nasty sludge from the surface.” 

Sans gave a wave as he turned before letting his hands fall into his pockets once more. 

“dontcha worry ms. o. i know a shortcut.” Just like that Sans had blinked out of existence, blinking back as he landed with a crunch of snow under his feet. He opened his sockets to take in the sight of Snowdin, the townsfolk all bustling around to get back home with dinners in their arms. 

Sans himself didn’t waste any time entering the local bar, sighing out happily at how war the building was. At the sight of him a monster that looked like a talking Venus fly trap sat up and shouted out. 

“Hey, Sans is here!” 

The occupants of the bar all began to call out and wave at Sans collectively, giving his skull pats and his back some loving slaps as he hurried over to the bar table where a fire elemental stood standing. Though he lacked any features like eyes or a mouth, his fire seemed to flick around happily as he set the glas he was polishing.

_ ‘Hello Sans. Here to get dinner?” _

Sans clambered up onto a stool and rested his skull in his palms, looking at the monster tiredly. 

“heya grillby. jus’ they usual.” He answered with a yawn. Grillby nodded expectantly and walked off towards the back, disappearing through a door. One of the monsters sitting at the bar leaned over, wrapping their wing around Sans and giving a drunken laugh.

“Yer gonna week yer self too much at this rate Sans’s boy!” They slurred out. Sans snorted as he patted their wing.

“aw, worried i’ll work myself to the  _ grave _ ? can’t say i blame ya. I’m all  _ bones _ .” 

The drunk monster erupted into laughter at Sans’s puns, as Sans himself grinned. Though it wasn’t his best puns in the world, he was doing his best to learn how to do them better. They were hilarious! Plus, something about them gave him a wave of nostalgia every time he did it. 

“heheh. dont worry. i’ll  _ beer  _ here all night.” Sans added quickly, grinning proudly when the bird monster erupted into even more loud obnoxious laughter. Sans looked up when a stack of containers were set down in front of him, Grillby giving the bird monster a thwack on the back of their head. 

_ ‘Don’t encourage him.”  _ Grillby scolded, but it held no actual seriousness. He focused back to Sans when he saw the boy moving to grab some gold from his pocket. “ _ Ah ah Sans. You know I don’t take your money.” _

Sans huffed in annoyance as he slid the food closer so he could lift it into his arms. 

“i can afford it, grillbz.”

‘ _ Don’t care, my bar, my rules. Now run along before Papyrus comes running in again for you taking too long.”  _ Grillby gave a chuckle as Sans hurried to his feet in a panicked dash, holding the food close as he waved. 

“see ya grillbz!” Once again Sans blinked from existence for a moment before blinking back. This time his landing was far less pretty as he went tumbling into the couch, somehow keeping the food secure as he did. He let out a groan as he shifted to sit up normally, looking around the living room before calling out. 

“paps! i got dinner!” Silence. Sans stood carefully with the food and moved into the kitchen, setting it down at the table before beginning his ascent up the stairs. As he got closer he could hear Papyrus humming to himself, causing Sans to grow a fond smile. He gave Papyrus’s door a knock before opening it and stepping inside. Papyrus had his things all over the floor while the skeleton in question was rumaning around his closet, tossing things aside in a frenzy. 

“sup bro.”

Papyrus stood up straight as if he had been burned, his cheeks flushing orange as he turned sharply

“AH! I MEAN, AAAH, MY BROTHER! YOU’RE LATE!” He coughed out to hide his fear. Sans bit back a laugh and pretended he didn’t notice, pointing backwards towards the hall.

“sorry bro. had ta get dinner.” Papyrus’s face erupted into eager giggles as he shot past Sans, practically flying down the stairs. Sans hurried after him as he felt his own excitement spike up Grillby’s cooking was the best in Snowdin after all. The brothers didn’t waste any time separating their dinners, Sans having his usual order of a burger and fries while Papyrus had an order of oatmeal with dinosaur eggs. Papyrus looked at Sans’s meal and scoffed, shaking his head as if he were a disappointed parent.

“UGH. HOW CAN YOU EVEN EAT SOMETHING SO GREASY?” He huffed out. Sans just gave a shrug as he took a very obvious bite of his burger and began to eat. Papyrus just went back to eating his oatmeal and swinging his legs happily under the table.

“how’d yer day go paps?” Sans soon questioned as he paused long enough to give Papyrus his attention. Papyrus squirmed slightly but gave Sans a bright smile as usual.

“I MADE A NEW FRIEND.”

Sans’s eyelights brightened in surprise as his grin became a bit more real. 

“told ya it was only a matter a time. yer so cool dude.” Sans praised as Papyrus’s cheeks flushed orange. “tell me about ‘em.”

“WELL, HE HAS SOME TROUBLE TALKING LIKE US, SO HE HAD TO WRITE IN THE SNOW. SO, I WAS THINKING, I SHOULD BRING A NOTEBOOK TO WRITE IN SO WE CAN TALK BETTER! ALSO, HE IS SUUUUPER TALL. AND WARM!! HE FEELS AS WARM AS GRILLBY!” Papyrus ranted. “HE WAS KINDA SHY AT FIRST, BUT IT WAS NOTHING THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN’T HANDLE!”

“‘what's his name?”

“GASTER.”

Sans felt a twinge of pain in his skull at the name. He reached up and rubbed at the back of his cranium, tsking slightly.  _ Musta hit the couch too hard.  _ Sans refocused on Papyrus and hummed. 

‘well they gotta be a cool dude to see how much of a cool dude you are.” Sans decided matter of factly. It was true, after all. Papyrus was the coolest monster he knew. Papyrus gave a little ‘NYEH’ in satisfaction as the two returned to their ears. 

“...mmph, but the way, make sure ya get the guards ta meet ya right after school from now on. heard some rumors say some weird monster was lurking around the place.” Sans added through a mouthful of fries. Papyrus frowned slightly as he messed with his oatmeal. 

“LIKE..RIGHT RIGHT AFTER SCHOOL? AS IN THE MOMENT I STEP OUTSIDE OF THE DOOR RIGHT AFTER SCHOOL?” Papyrus frowned more from hearing himself. “BUT WHAT IF I WANT TO HANG OUT WITH MY NEW FRIEND?” 

Sans gave Papyrus’s skull a gentle pat as he laughed at his little bro’s obvious unhappiness. 

“dont worry bro. its just til this mystery monster business goes away.” When Papyrus continued to from Sans winced, thinking up an idea out of the blue. “and uh...yknow. ya can invite yer friend over whenever n’ stuff.” 

That Papyrus to cheer up. Sans let out an  _ oof  _ when Papyrus hurriedly climbed out of his seat and launched himself into sans, wrapping his arms around his ribs and looking up at Sans.

“NYEH HEH HEH! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, BROTHER! OH, I GOTTA GO PLAN WHAT WE’RE GONNA DO! WE GOTTA PLAY KNIGHTS, THEN HUMANS AND MONSTERS, THEN..” Sans could only watch as Papyrus practically levitated up the stairs, his dinner long forgotten. He sighed slightly as he stood from his seat, gathering their left overs up for the night and placing them in the fridge. Seemed like they would have a pretty awesome breakfast in the morning. 

Sans moved towards the stairs to help Papyrus get ready for the night, humming. Slightly.  _ Gaster.. _ why did that name sound so familiar? Sans rubbed his eyes at he felt a headache come again, though mostly stayed at the level of a pinch.

Whatever. He didn’t care if the monsters name was Wart. As long as he was good to his brother, Sans was happy. He hoped to meet the monster in question soon, and give them a proper skele-brother introduction. He’d have to bust out the whoopie cushion of course. Maybe try to find a hand taser in the Dump?

“SAAANS! COME SEE THE NOTEBOOK I FOUND! I NEED YOUR APPROVAL!!” 

Sans snickered in his hand as he hurried up the stairs, calling back.

“aw, didnt know you were so  _ bonely  _ without me bro! dont get yer ribs in a twist, im coming!”

“..I CHANGE MY MIND! KEEP YOURSELF AND YOUR PUNS AWAY...SANS? WHAT ARE YOU DOING? NO! NOT THE RIB TICKLER!! NYOHOHOH!!!”

That night the skeleton household was filled with laughter and brothers having a moment of really being brothers to one another. And even if you ask him, Sans will deny he let his brother and he stay up too late. He was a responsible adult, after all!

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That night there was also a visitor of Snowdin that stood just at the edge of where the woods met with the town, staring up at the brother’s home. Gaster and his broken face smiled at the sight of the brothers roughhousing through a window, and he couldn’t help but hold his wretched hands to his warped soul.

_ )@@^. _  
  
  
  


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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaster I hope you realize you’re kinda a creeper. Just..standing there outside. Staring. Definitely NOT weird or anything.


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